Internal-combustion engine.



O. IIRAUS.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I910.

Patented De0.14,1915.

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O. KRAUS.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

1 h APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. I9I0. v il gfi ff l Patented Dem M, 1915.

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0. K-RAUS.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1910.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915. F5 l9 4- SHEETS -SHEET kW/f M41 0. KRAUS.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. I910.

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OTTO KRAUS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OTTO IKBRAUSJI citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of NewYork'and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Internal- Combustion Engines, of which the follow-.

fuel by atomizing fuel oil with air and burn-' ing same man envelop ofair, which air is utilized at first to prevent the Oll sprayed fromreaching the walls of the combustion chamber and then is combined with,theoil to further support combustion;

A further object is to provide an. engine which will operate by slowlygenerating and burning the gases in order to avoid a rela, tively highpressure above that of the compressed charge of fuel.

A further object is to inject all of the fuel after the piston has madeits upward or exhaust stroke, necessary for the operation of the engine,and to cause the air to flow from the compressor cylinder withsufiicient velocity at all periods when the valve is open which controlscommunication be-' tween said cylinder and power cylinder, to atomizethe oil and spray it into' the com bustion chamber. 4 I

A further object is to'employ' a portion of the exhaust gases to act asa heating medium in which the new charge of sprayed oil and air may beinjected to more rapidly heat the combustible mixture, and assist inigniting the same.

A further object is to utilize an air compressing cylinder the piston inwhich is driven directly from the main shaft in timed relation with thepower piston to deliver the air used in generating the combustiblemixture into the cylinder during the period that the piston is movingfrom its highest to about one-fourth of its stroke, at aboutSpecification of Letters Patent.

' engine.

Patented Dec. ii, 1915.

Application filed May20, 191 0. Serial No. 562,363.

which point the communication between the power cylinder and the aircompressor is closed.

Other obiects and advantages of my invention will be disclosed in thefollowing specification and pointed out in the claims forming a partthereof.

Referring to the drawings which form a part of this specification.Figure 1. discloses a vertical view of an engine embodving mv inventiona portion of the walls of which are shown in vertical section; Fig. 2,is a vertical sectional view through the power cylinder of the engine,and discloses the means used for operating the exhaust valve and oilpump. Fig. 3, is a side view of the cam ring which is mounted on themain shaft, and actuates the exhaust valve of the Fig. 4. is a side viewof the cam which actuates the rod by means of which the two valves inthe top of the air compressor-are operated. Fig. 5, is a verticalsectional view taken on line X of Fig. 6, and discloses the constructionof the oil pump, spray nozzle and overflow valve. and

pre'ssor cylinder.

A, indicates the cylinder casing of the power cylinder and B thecylinder casing of the air compressor portion.

A indicates the power cylinder and B the cylinder of the air compressorportion. Located in the cylinder A isa power piston A provided with awrist pin A Connected to said wrist pin is a, connecting rod A the lowerend of which is connected to the inain crank A, which is mounted on themain shaft A which rests in bearings A, which in turn are supported by acrank casing A the interior of which forms a 'housing for the cranks Aand B both of which are directly connected to the main shaft A.

Mounted between the cranks A and B on a portion of the main shaft A,which is enlarged in diameter at this point, are two cam rings indicatedby 'O and D respectively, on which are formed cams C and D respectively,which operate valve rods C and D respectively.

Driven bV the crank 13 is a connecting.

i the cylinders A and B are of the same diameter, and the crank pin ofthe crank A is set ahead about 50 degrees in advance of the crank pin ofthe crank B and the engine in operating turns in the direction indicatedby the arrow on the crank A in Fig. 2. I do not wish to confine myself,however, to the diameter of the air compressorbeing of the same diameteras that of the power cvlinder, since it may be of less or greaterdiameter, and also the stroke may be of lessor greater length thanshown, the object being to provide a cylinder of the proper cubicdimensions to properly carry out the function necessary to -successfuloperation. I

Bolted on the top of each of the cylinder casings, A and B, arewater-jacketed cylinder heads indicated by A and B respec- 4 tively,which are secured to the respective casings bv bolts EEE, etc.

Located in the cylinder head B is a valve- B which controls a passage Bwhich leads to the atmosphere, and through which air is drawn into thecylinder B on thedownward stroke of the piston B A second valveindicated by B is located in the cylinder head B and controls a passageB (see Fig. 6) which communicates with the annular chamber 13 which inturn is in open communication with a curved chamber A vided with apassage F which is formed between the inner wall of the plug portion Fand the outer surface of a nozzle element F which is fitted within theplug F, which passage terminates in an annular groove F, the outlet ofwhich is contracted in area and is in open communication with the curvedchamber A. vThe chamber B is formed in thenozzle element F? and isprovided with an opening F which may be restricted or closed by thelower end of the set screw F The nozzle element F is further providedwith two cone shaped surfaces indicated bv F and Fflrespectively at theapex of which is provided a passage F which establishes communicationbetween the chambers B and A I Connected to the plug portion Fbv JooltsG is a casing Cr in one side of which is secured a tube G one end ofwhich is formed cone shaped and provided with a passage G the axis ofwhich is located in alinement with the passage F A valve rod G isthreaded and screws in the casing G and carries a valve G at its innerend which maybe adjusted to restrict or close the passage G The chamberA is of larger diameter than the largest diameter of the annular grooveand thus forms an expansion chamber into which the fuel mixture and thesurrounding envelop of air may expand.

By reason of this free expansion of the mix ture and the surroundingair, the latter does not become entirely mixed with the fuel, the outerlave-rs thereof being maintained substantially free from fuel vapor andthus serves to protect the walls of e cylinder from any deposit and'alsocools the same. In this mode of operation, the mole cules of oxygen inthe air are taken up and burned and the'molecules of nitrogen are leftat the exterior of the burning mixture, i

affording an inert envelop immediately adjacent the cylinder walls toprotect the same from the burning gases. It will be'noted also that asthe fuel mixture leaves the no'zzle,,it is thrown out radially to acertain extent, but as the surrounding air envelop can expand, the outerlayer thereof is not mixed with the fuel but is, maintained free fromthe vapor as above explained. The inner end of the valve rod Cr is ofless diameter than the inner diameter of the tube G so that an annularpassage G is formed, which communicates with a vertical passage G whichextends to the bottom'of the casing G. Formed in the casing G is achamber G which is inopen communication with the passage Gr through apassage G. The chamber G is also in communication with the annularchamber B through the passages G, G, and G respectively.

Connected to the lower end of the casing G is a valve housing H-to thelower end of which is connected a castlng I having a passage I, theupper end of which is normally closed by a ball check 'valve I whichrests in a chamber H formed in the casting I-I. Two small passagesindicated by H establish communication between the chamber'H and thepassage G Connected to the bottom of the casting I is a pump cylindercasing J provided with a cylinder J in which is fitted a piston plungerJ by means of which oil may be drawn into the passage J past the checkvalve J and forced upwardpast the ball check valve I and into thechamber Gr by way of the passage G".

Screwed in to the under side of the casing G is a casing K, the upperend of which .cxtends upward from the bottom of the chamber G apredetermined distance, and

is formed as a valve seat for the valve K which is provided with thevalve stem K the upper end of which is reduced in diameter to permit oilto flow from the chamber G through the annular passage IOU K to the pipeK and through same back to the oil tank from which the oil wasoriginally pumped by means of the plunger J ger operating means islowered, as will be readily understood.

The means used for operating the valve I rods C and D respectively,comprise bell-- crank levers C and D respectively, which are supportedon a short shaft D screwed into the side of the casing A one end of saidbell-crank levers C and D being connected respectively to the valve rodsC and D respectively, and their opposite ends being provided withrollers C and D respectively.

The exhaust valve is operated through the instrumentality of the cam C,the cam Wheel C and the lever C and rod C and the lever C which isfulcrumed at C, on a short shaft C which carries a lever C the end ofwhich operates the valve rod C, the lower end of which carries theexhaust -valve C to exhaust the gases from the and since the end of thelever D rests on the end of the valve stem 13 and the end of the lever Drests on the top of the valve stem 13, the cams act to alternately opensaid valves by the means shown. I

A helical spring indicated by ,D is mounted on the short shaft D and oneend is. made fast to a pin connected to the shaft and the opposite endismade fast to the pillar post D after it has been placed under a strain,so that the action of the spring will assist in holding the roller D incontact with the cam D. A similar pillar post indicated by C is mountedon the top of the cylinder head A to support the shortshaft C and asimilar spring is mounted on the shaft C the tension of said springserving to depress the valve rod C and hold the cam wheel C firmly incontact with the cam C.

Mounted on brackets located one above the other and indicated by C and Crespectively, the

bracket C being located beneath the lower end of the oil pump plunger Jand adapted to lift said plunger to-pump oil to the chamber G and thebracket C being located directly below the valve rod K and serving tolift the same to permit oil to flow from the valve rod C are two thechamber G through the passage K andpipe K backto the oil tank.

The cylinders of the engine; are water jacketed, the inlet of onebeingindicated by L in Fig. 2, and the outlet by L.' The engine is providedwith the usual fly wheel indicated by M.

Mounted in the chamber A which will hereinafter be referred to as thecombustion chamber of the engine is a spark plug indicated by N andconnected to the lower end of the spark plug is a platinum wireindicated by O, the purpose of which is to ignite the fuel after theengine has been running a short time.

Small plugs P, Q, R'and S, respectively, are used to close the ends ofdrilled passages, as shown. w

The construction of the engine is so clearly illustrated by the drawingsthat further description of its parts is deemed unnecessary.

The operation of the engine is as follows: Assuming the engine to becold, in the first instance, the balance wheel M being used to impartmotion to'thc cranks and pistons, and the valve G controlling the oilspray to be properly adjusted; the wheel M is rotated which starts thepiston 13 on its. upward movement, thereby compressing air in thecylinder B above said piston, and when the cam D operates to open thevalve B the air passes through the passage B (which is made of as smallcubic capacity as possible consistent with its function) into cham* berB and therefrom by three separate passages, one leading through passageF into the combustion chamber A, and serving to draw oil from chamber Gand spray same into the combustion chamber; one passing through passagesG G and G and acting on the surface of Oll therein to force oiltherefrom through passages G G, G and G and one passing through theopening F and passage F to the annular chamber F and its restrictedannular outlet into the combustion chamber, forming an annular envelopof air for the fuel issuing from the nozzle, and serving to prevent theatomized oil from being projected in contact with the walls of thecombustion chamber, the object being to ignite the fuel within anenvelop of air and to continuously inject and burn .same during theperiod that the air compressorpisto'n is traveling upward after thevalve B is opened, and to open said valve.

when the piston A is about to begin its power'stroke. The relativeamounts of air passing through the nozzle direct, and that passingthrough the annular outlet to form the envelop, is' controlled by theset screw F By closing the opening F practically all of the air will beforced out through the passage F and when the engine is operated withsaid passage F closed, it is obvious that no air envelop is formed. Theamount of oil sprayed is controlled by the valve G as will be readilyunderstood.

It is obvious that if the oil and air forming the fuel, is injectedcontinuously during a certain period of the upward stroke of the aircompressor piston B, that said fuel will be continuously fed to thecylinder A. during a corresponding downward movement of the piston A andtherefore, the combustion will be'con-tinuous during this period so thatthe highest pressure generated in the combustion chamber will always beas low or lower than the air pressure generated in the 'air compressor.The piston in the air compressor is traveling upward at the same timethat the power piston is traveling downward, and all of the air in thecompressor must flow to the combustion cham her, and with sutlicientvelocity to spray the oil at all times during its flow.

It will be noticed that the power piston A travels to the extreme top ofthe cylinder A, and also that the compressor piston also travels to thetop of cylinder B, and that every downward stroke of the power piston isa power stroke, the exhaust valve C being opened to exhaust the burnedgases just before the power piston completes its stroke, and closes justbefore the said piston completes its'upward stroke and preferably intimeto trap a portion of the burned gases and compress same into thecombustion chamber in order that the incoming fuel may be atomized andprojected into said hot gases-to assist in gasifying and igniting same,a spark being generated by the spark plug N at the proper time to ignitethe charge, and until the engine is sufliciently heated by operating, toignite its charge by reason of the platinum rod 0, which is heated bythe burning gases, being sufficiently heated to permit the spark to bedispensed with. The compression in the combustion chamber of a part ofthe exhaust gases also diminishes the clearance etlect thus increasingthe power of the engine.

At each upward movement of the rod C, the oil pump plunger J is raised,and forces oil up 'ard through check *alve I into the chamber G and alsolifts thevalve K to permit all oil in said chamber above the level ofsaid valve, to be ejected from said chamber through passage K and pipeK,thus preventing any oil from being forced upward into the opening G.

The cams D and (Z are constructed to permit both valves B and to remainclosed when the roller D is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4c, andopens the valve B when raised by the cam (Z and opens the air inlet vzlve when it rests on the lower surface (l(Z, during which period air isflowing into cylinder 13 and the piston 13' is making desired.

its suction stroke, as will be readily understood.

I It will be seen that a definite volume of air her, the power thatwould be used ordinarily in compressing the fuel charge in the powercylinder, being used to compress the air in the air compressor cylinder,where the air can be drawn in, in a more condenseolform due to thecylinder being colder than the power cylinder, and, therefore, a largervolume of air can be forced into the power cvlinder than could be drawnin by suction direct; and, further, the air compressor cylinder may varyin its cu'bic capacity from that of the power cylinder so that more orles air may be forced to the power cylinder, as may be desired, eitherby increasing the stroke or area of the compressor relative to that ofthe power cylinder, as will be readily understood.

- It will be seen that the fuel may be burned at any desired pressurethat the construction may be designed for, without danger of preignition and other such troubles found in the ordinary two and fourcycle engines, and that by reason of the high-pressures at whichthe fuelmay be generated, the heat generated by the combustion of the fuel maybe suflici'e'ntly high to perfectly burn the fuel and thereby overcomethe troubles inherent in other oil burning engines, such ascarbon'deposits, tar distillation, etc.

' The construction is self-contained and compact, and very simple, andmay be operated at a high rotationals'peed.

It is obviousthat a plurality of sets of cylinders may be constructedand united to form generators of increased power if I claim as new:

1. The method of operating an internal combustion engine consisting ofintroducing into the power cylinder a stream of liquid fuel mixed withair and surrounding said mixture with a protecting envelop or air and'directing said mixture together with its surrounding envelop in thesame. general direction into an expansion chamber, said mixture andenvelop beinginaintained separate up to their admissioninto theexpansion chamber, the envelop of air surrounding the stream of the fuelmixture and preventing the same from contacting the walls of thecylinder.

2. The method of operating an internalcombustion engine consisting inintroducing into the power cylinder under pressure all -neously in thesame general direction into an expansion chamber, the mixture beingburned simultaneously with its introduction into the cylinder during apredetermined portion of the power stroke of the piston.

3. The method of operating an internal combustion engine consisting inintroducing under pressure,.all the air used in. the combustion of thefuel, intothe power cylinder of the engine after the piston therein hascompleted its exhaust stroke, and causing a portion of said air to flowinto said cylinder in an annular stream and surround a column of sprayedoil which is simultaneously injected into said cylinder, and continuingto inject said oil and air into said cylinder during a predeterminedportion of the powerstroke of said piston, and burning said oilthroughout said portion of the power stroke,

then cutting off the supply of air and oil and permitting the gases toexpand until the piston has about completed its stroke,

then exhausting inost of said burned gases from the cylinder duringthevexhaust stroke of said piston and compressing same into a space adacent the fuel inlet to the cylinder,

and afterthe piston has completedits exhaust stroke, introducing anewcharge of fuel into said compressed burned gases.

4. In an internal combustion engine,'the

combination of an air compressorcylin-der and a power cylinder,'a pistonin each of said cyhnders, a main shaft, two cranks mounted thereon, oneof which drlves'said piston in the air compressor 'cylinder, and

one of which is connected-to the piston in said power cylinder, thecrank driving said power piston being set in advance of the crankdriving said air compressor piston a predetermined degree on said mainshaft, a passage leading from said air compressor cylinder to said powercylinder, a valve controlling said passage, means for operating saidvalve to open same when the piston in the power cylinder has completedits exhaust stroke, an oil pump, means for operating said oil pump, anoil chamber,.means for maintaining the oil therein at a predeterminedheight, a spray nozzle in open communlcatlon therewith and suppliedthere-- from, and means for causing the oil to be carried therefrom intothe power cylinder at the same time and during the time that air isdelivered from said air compressor cylinder to said power cylinder.

5. The. method of operating an internal combustion engine consisting inspraying oil and air under pressure directly into the power cylinder andsimultaneously introducinginto the power cylinder under pressure and inthe same general direction as the fuel an envelop of air surrounding themixture, the diameter of the envelop being less than the opening intowhich this envelop with the inclosed charge are admitted, the mixtureand the envelop being maintained separate up to their admission into thecylinder and kept separate by the simultaneous ing therethrough to forma substantially cy- .lindrical envelop to surround said mixture,

an expansion chamber into which the mix ture and surrounding envelopenter simultaneously, the mixture and envelop being kept separate up totheir point of entrance into the expansion chamber, and means forregulating the flow of air through said annular passage. 7. In aninternal combustion engine, a

source of air pressure supply, an air chamber terminating in a nozzle,and connected to said air supply, an annular passage surrounding saidchamber and communicating therewith,.a liquid fuel nozzle within saidchamber, a fuel chamber communicating with said nozzle, and a ductleading from said air chamber to said fuel chamber, the

compressed air being adapted to be forced into the power cylinderthrough the nozzle and annular passage, and to force the fuel throughthe fuel nozzle by the'pressure exerted upon the liquid in the fuelchamber.

Signed at New York city, in the county' of New York, and State of NewYork, this 18th day of May, 1910.

OTTO KRAUS. iVitnesses FRANK M. ASHLEY, Gronon DUAN BUssELL.

